Text B The Chrysanthemums（第2页）

&hsomeasperity，“Itmightsurpriseyouwhatthembeastspullthrough。”

&heygetstarted?”sheasked。

Hesmiledforased。“Yes。Wheed。”

“Well，”saidElisa，“Ithinkyou’llsavetimeifyougobacktotheSalinasroadandpickupthehighwaythere。”

Hedrewabigfihewireasing。“Iain’tinanyhurry，ma’am。IgofromSeattletoSanDiegoandbackeveryyear。Takesallmytime。Aboutsixmonthseachway。Iaimtofollo>

&olovesahemintheaprohescissors。Shetouchedtheunderedgeofherman’shat，seargfitivehairs。“Thatsoundslikeanidofawaytolive，”shesaid。

Heleanedtiallyoverthefence。“Maybeyouhewritingonmywagosandsharpenknivesandscissotahingstodo?”

“Oh，no，”shesaidquiothi。”Hereyeshardehresistance。

“Scissorsisthew，”heexplaipeoplejustruinscisstosharpeIknowhoecialtool。It’salittlebobbitkindofthing，asuredoesthetrick。”

“No。Myscissorsareallsharp。”

“Allright，the，”heuedearly，“abentpot，orapotwithahole。Imakeitlikenewsoyoudoobuy’sasavingforyou。”

“No，”shesaidshortly。“ItellyouIhavenothiforyoutodo。”

Hisfacefelltoaedsadness。Hisvoiawhione。“Iain’thadathingtodotoday。MaybeIpertonight。YouseeI’mularroad。IknowfolksonthehighwaySeattletoSaheysavetheirthiosharpeheyknowIdoitsogoodahemmoney。”

“I’msorry，”Elisasaidirritably。“Ihaven’tanythingforyoutodo。”

&herfadfellttheground。Theyroamedaboutuothethemumbedwhereshehadbeenw。“What’sthemplants，ma’am?”

&ioaedfromElisa’sface。“Oh，thosearethemums，giantwhitesandyellows。Iraisethemeveryyear，biggerthananybodyaroundhere。”

“Kindofalong-stemmedflower?Lookslikeaquickpuffofoke?”heasked。“That’sit。Whataodescribethem。”

“Theysmellkindofnastytillyougetusedtothem，”hesaid。“It’sagoodbittersmell，”sheretorted，“notnastyatall。”Hegedhistonequickly。“Ilikethesmellmyself。”“Ihadten-insthisyear，”shesaid。

Themaheroverthefence。“Look。Iknowaladydoiece，hasgotthegardenyotnearlyeverykindofflowerbutnothemums。LasttimeIwasmendiomwashtubforher（that’sahardjobbutIdoitgood），shesaidtome，‘IfyoueverrunaehemumsIwishyetmeafewseeds。’That’swhatshetoldme。”

Elisa’seyesgrewalertandeager。“She’thaveknownmuchaboutthemums。Youraisethemfromseed，butit’smucheasiertorootthelittlesproutsyouseethere。”

“Oh，”hesaid。“IsupposeI’ttakehen。”

“Whyyesyou，”Elisacried。“Ipsand，andyoucarrythemrightalongwithyou。They’lltakerootiifyoukeepthemdamp。Andtheransplantthem。”

“She’dsureliketohavesome，ma’am。Yousaythey’renies?”

&iful，”shesaid。“Oh，beautiful。”Hereyesshooreoffthebatteredhatandshookoutherdarkprettyhair。“I’llputthemi，andyoutakethemrightwithyou。eintotheyard。”

。。。

1。Discussthefollowiions。

1）Inwhatwaydoesthesettioryforeshadowwhatfollows?

2）WhatkindofpersonisElisa?

3）Whyisthetinker’slifeattractivetoElisa?

4）WhatkiionshipdoesshehavewithHenry?Whatishisviewofher?

5）Towhatextehemumssymbolithisstory?WhatdotheyrepresentforElisa?

6）InwhatwaysisthetirasttoElisa?Whatmightherepresentforher?Ishesincere，orishejustaan?

7）Whatistheauthor’spurposeofingthedogsiory?

8）Steinbeck’ssimple，aloofstylebefrustratingforreaders，whowaailsaboutthecharacters’thoughtsandfeelings。Whydoyouthiokeephisdistanhischaracters?Isitastrengthofthestory，ora>

2。OralWork:Retellthestory。

&hepleteversiohemumsafterthedtheoryfromtheperspectiveofthetinker。